Coincidentally, the UH's Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology Cetacean Stranding Lab is located at MCBH, mere steps away from the boat ramp. Dr. Kristi West, who runs the lab, says this is the first cetacean that died and ended up so close to where a large team of students and volunteers have begun the long process of conducting a post-mortem examination.

Given the extent of decomposition, Dr. West feels it's unlikely they'll be able to determine the cause of death.

Prior to the examination, cultural practitioner Walt "Kahele" Mix conducted protocol to recognize the whale's place in the ecosystem and the species importance to native Hawaiians.

The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.